Suture package



April 7, 1964 c. F. HORINE 3,127,992

SUTURE PACKAGE Filed Jan. 19, 2

INVENTOR CYRUS F. HORINE United States Patent 3,127,992 SUTURE PACKAGECyrus F. Horine, Medical Arts Bldg, Baltimore 1, Md. Filed Jan. 19,1962, Ser. No. 167,364 2 Claims. (Cl. 20663.3)

The present invention relates to a suture package and is suitable forsutures made from any kind of materials.

The package is constructed of any suitable material, such as paper,plastic, etc. The package may be of any circumferential form, square, Vshaped, round, etc. In use the suture is rolled into a coil like shapeand of such size as to fit easily into recessed portions formed into thesides of the package.

The suture may be provided with a needle at one end, or at both ends.When a needle is provided at both ends, the suture is normally of suchlength as to make up into two standard lengths and is usually used bycutting the suture in half.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a suture package thatis more adaptable to machine winding and packaging.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method ofremoving the suture from the package.

A further object of the invention is to provide a package in which bothends of the suture may be exposed beyond the outer surface thereof sothat the suture may be easily removed from the package.

While several objects of the invention have been pointed out, otherobjects, uses and advantages will be more apparent as the nature of theinvention is more fully disclosed which consists of its novelconstruction, the combination and arrangement of its several parts asshown in the accompanying drawing and described and claimed in thespecification to follow:

FIGURE 1 is a isometric view of one form of the package.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view in elevation of the package shown in FIGURE 1, inwhich the package is enclosed in a germ proof transparent cover.

FIGURE 4 is a view in elevation of the package shown in FIGURE 1,showing a needle attached to one end of the suture and the position ofthe needle in relation to the package when the suture is packaged andready to be placed into the germ proof cover.

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation of a modified form of package, alsoshowing a needle position on the outer surface of the package.

FIGURE 6 is an end view of a package showing a needle attached to eachend of the suture and extending outwardly from the package forillustrating their position relative to the package.

FIGURE 7 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of thesuture package, showing the method of removing the suture from thepackage.

The suture package 10 is constructed of any suitable material, such aspaper, plastic, etc. The package is shown in square form, but may be ofany convenient shape. It may have a number of sides, such as a polygon,or it may be of circular or V-shaped form. The handling and packagingusually determines this choice. The package is formed substantially oftwo parts from a flat sheet of material which is folded along a centerline 10" to form a hinge for the two parts. However, the sides may beformed separately and glued together or provided with some other type ofhinge means other than the fold. Each side of the package issubstantiflly fiat and is provided with a circular recessed area 10 and10". This area extends outwardly from the adjacent surfaces of the sideportions and is to receive the coiled 3,127,992 Patented Apr. 7, 1964suture of a predetermined size and length. Preferably there are holes 12and 12' located centrally, one in each side of the recessed portion.Extending inwardly from the edge of the package to the holes 12 and. 12are slits 13 and 13'. These slits preferably do not coincide when thesides are folded parallel to form the sides of the package, as shown inFIGURES 1, 3 and 4, which gives the package added rigidity. However, ifdesirable and extra rigidity is not a primary factor, the slits may bein the same plane, as shown in FIGURE 5. While the slits 13 and 13 areshown extending from the edge of the package to the holes 12 and 12'they may only extend inwardly from the edge of the package far enough toreceive and hold the ends of the suture.

The suture 15 is wound in coil form and is of such size as to bedeposited within the recessed portions 10' and 10" of the package, whenthe sheet is folded and the sides are in contact with each other asshown in FIGURES 6 and 7. The ends of the side portions of the packageopposite the fold 10" or the hinge area, as the case may be, areprovided with small areas of pressure sensitive adhesive, as shown at16, 18, 2t and 2.2. When the suture is placed within the recessedportions 10' and 10" of the package the open ends of the packageopposite the fold, or hinged area are pressed together, the adhesivearea 16 will contact the adhesive area 20, and adhesive area 18 willcontact adhesive area 22, holding the open ends of the flat sides of thepackage together. The adhesive contact areas are located on each side ofthe slits 13 and 13 in order that the suture may be removed entirelyfrom the package without any tearing or ripping of the package.

FIGURE 3 shows the package 10 completely enclosed in a hermeticallysealed cellophane cover 24.

In FIGURES 2, 4, 5 and 6 the package is illustrated with an attachedneedle to either one or both ends of the suture, FIGURE 6 shows an endView of the package with needles 26 and 28 attached one to each end ofthe suture, the needles being extended outwardly from the package toillustrate their relative location with the package.

When the suture is placed in the package, the ends may be extendedthrough the slits 13 and 13 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, or the end maybe extended through the holes 12 and 12, if the slits extend to theholes.

This type package is very adaptable to machine pack aging of a machinewound suture. The suture being wound on a machine, is automaticallydeposited within the angled flat sides 10 and 1t) and, held closed bythe adhesive at its opposite edge, with the end of the suture extendingpreferably through the holes 13 and 13 as shown in FIGURE 4. Theadhesive areas will be brought in contact and the package retains thecoiled suture within the recess portions 10' and 10", which prevents itfrom unwinding. The package 10 is then normally sterilized and insertedinto a sterilized cellophane cover 24 and hermetically sealed.

When the time comes to use the suture, the package 10 is first removedfrom the cover 24. The suture is removed from the package by pulling theends 15 and 15' of the suture sidewise as shown in FIGURE 7. When thesuture is extended, it will move along the slits 13 and 13 from thecenter holes 12 and 12' to the outer edge of the cover and in doing sowill be extracted completely from the package through the slits. This isadvantageous, in that, doctors attendants, etc., usually wearrubber-like gloves during their work and any tearing operation isusually very difficult and besides the present package saves time ingetting the suture in position to being used.

If the suture is provided with attached needles the suture is stillextracted from the package in the same manner.

3 While the invention has been illustrated and described in a specificform other forms would be apparent to those skilled in the art andtherefore the present disclosure is not intended as a limitation, thescope of the invention being best deferred in the appending claims.

I claim:

1. A coiled suture and package therefor comprising:

(a) a single pliable sheet folded along a line forming two flat adjacentside portions of substantially uniform size in which the fiat sides arein substantially parallel planes, and having means holding the edges ofsaid folded sheet opposite the folded edge in adjacent relationship;

(b) each fiat side portion having a circular recess, the recesses in oneside portion being opposite the recess in the other side portion, andeach recess extending toward the outside of the respective flat side inwhich each is formed for receiving the coiled suture therebetween;

(c) each flat side having a slit extending inwardly from its outer edgeopposite the fold lines from spaced adjacent points, the slits extendinginto the recessed area in the respective side portions containing thesuture having opposite ends of the suture retained, one in each of thetwo slits formed in the two side portions;

(d) said holding means comprising an adhesive being at the edge of thepackage adjacent the outer end of the slits and positioned outside thearea lying between the two slits;

whereby, the edge of the package between the slits is open to allow thepackage to be removed from the suture by moving the suture through theslits toward and through the outer ends thereof when the suture isextended in a straight and taut line.

2. A sterilized coiled suture and package comprising in combination:

(a) a single pliable sheet folded along a line forming two fiat adjacentside portions of substantially uniform size in which the fiat sides arein substantially d parallel planes, and having means holding the edgesof said folded sheet opposite the folded edge in adjacent relationship;

(12) each flat side portion having a circular recess, the recesses inone side portion being opposite the recess in the other side portion,and each recess extending toward the outside of the respective flat sidein which each is formed for receiving the coiled suture therebetween;

(c) each flat side having a slit extending inwardly from its outer edgeopposite the fold line from spaced adjacent points, the slits extendinginto the recessed area in the respective side portions containing thesuture having opposite ends of the suture retained, one in each of thetwo slits formed in the two side portions;

(d) said holding means comprising an adhesive being at the edge of thepackage adjacent the outer end of the slits and positioned outside thearea lying between the two slits;

(e) an hermetically sealed transparent closure envelope extending aboutthe suture and package for maintaining the same in a sanitary andsterilized state;

whereby, the suture may be removed from the suture package after itsremoval from the envelope by extending the suture in a straight and tautline allowing the suture to move through the slits and out through theouter ends thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,029,975 Winchester Feb. 4, 1936 2,500,446 Worden Mar. 14, 19502,615,565 Bower et al. Oct. 28, 1952 2,824,642 Stoltz Feb. 25, 19582,824,709 Macy Feb. 25, 1958 2,952,420 Von Hoorn Sept. 13, 19603,062,372 Egler et a1. Nov; 6, 1962 3,082,868 Hubbard Mar. 26, 1963

2. A STERILIZED COILED SUTURE AND PACKAGE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A)A SINGLE PLIABLE SHEET FOLDED ALONG A LINE FORMING TWO FLAT ADJACENTSIDE PORTIONS OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SIZE IN WHICH THE FLAT SIDES AREIN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL PLANES, AND HAVING MEANS HOLDING THE EDGES OFSAID FOLDED SHEET OPPOSITE THE FOLDED EDGE IN AD JACENT RELATIONSHIP;(B) EACH FLAT SIDE PORTION HAVING A CIRCULAR RECESS, THE RECESSES IN ONESIDE PORTION BEING OPPOSITE THE RECESS IN THE OTHER SIDE PORTION, ANDEACH RECESS EXTENDING TOWARD THE OUTSIDE OF THE RESPECTIVE FLAT SIDE INWHICH EACH IS FORMED FOR RECEIVING THE COILED SUTURE THEREBETWEEN; (C)EACH FLAT SIDE HAVING A SLIT EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM ITS OUTER EDGEOPPOSITE THE FOLD LIE FROM SPACED ADJACENT POINTS, TE SLITS EXTENDINGINTO THE RECESSED AREA IN THE RESPECTIVE SIDE PORTIONS CONTAINING THESUTURE HAVING OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SUTURE RETAINED, ONE IN EACH OF THETOW SLITS FORMED IN THE TWO SIDE PORTIONS; (D) SAID HOLDING MEANSCOMPRISING AN ADHESIVE BEING AT THE EDGE OF THE PACKAGE ADJACENT THEOUTER END OF THE SLITS AND POSITIONED OUTSIDE THE AREA LYING BETWEEN THETWO SLITS; (E) AN HERMETICALLY SEALED TRANSPARENT CLOSURE ENVELOPEEXTENDING ABOUT THE SUTURE AND PACKAGE FOR MAINTAINING THE SAME IN ASANITARY AND STERILIZED STATE; WHEREBY, THE SUTURE MAY BE REMOVED FROMTHE SUTURE PACKAGE AFTER ITS REMOVAL FROM THE ENVELOPE BY EXTENDING THESUTURE IN A STRAIGHT AND TAUT LINE ALLOWING THE SUTURE TO MOVE THROUGHTHE SLITS AND OT THROUGH THE OUTER ENDS THEREOF.